Falmouth music venue raises thousands to offer free warm meals
The Cornish Bank will provide food tokens to people in need of aid
A Cornish music venue has raised money to provide free warm meals and food tokens to people in Falmouth.
The Cornish Bank campaign is hoping to help vulnerable groups within the community who are struggling with rising costs - and offering a warm space for them to come and enjoy.
Rufus Maurice, director of the Cornish Bank CIC, said: "What we don't want to do is to make any suggestion at all that there's a difference between people who have to access a food bank and people who'd normally come to The Cornish Bank for a drink or to watch some music.
"There's absolutely no shame in that at all"
"Job security is at an all time low and we know that prices are rising. You never know who might end up in a food bank, we're all potentially going to end up at one.
"What we want to make sure is that there's absolutely no shame in that at all".
The food tokens will look the same as tokens which are purchased from customers - and The Cornish Bank itself is aiming to work as a 'warm space' to bring communities together from all backgrounds.
Rufus continued: "It's warm, it's friendly, and we're cooking meals anyway. Why don't we try and get some money together and send some of those meals to people who need them, more than a lot of the people who come here.
"The isolation that poverty breeds is very very difficult. It means that opportunities aren't around you. Coming to space where there's people around you, getting into conversation, suddenly people are finding routes into work and activities. That's the fabric of community".
Through a Crowdfunder campaign, the Cornish Bank raised over £13,239, which will now go towards food bank vouchers which people can use to get a free meal to eat in or takeaway from the venue.
They hope to continue to supply free meals to people in need of aid through donations.
A spokesperson from the Cornish Bank said: "We are Crowdfunding to make these delicious meals available to all those who need some extra support in our community by providing meal tokens for subscribers at Falmouth & Penryn Food Bank.
"We want to welcome as many people as possible to eat together at The Cornish Bank".
You can continue to donate to the cause on their website.